Shoku
|Next word = Shu}} is one of the three major factions in the Koihime†Musō franchise. Goal : To unite the country under their banner and achieve peace among the lands, while retaining their ideals. Symbol : The faction is generally represented by the Kanji for Shoku, 蜀, or it's leader Ryūbi's Family Name of Ryū, the kanji 劉. : In Koihime†Musō, however, due to Kazuto replacing Ryūbi as sole leader of the faction, the faction's emblem is that of a cross shape, which serves as Kazuto's mark throughout the series, flown by his soldiers, instead of his Family Name of Hongō. History Koihime†Musō : Due to Hongō Kazuto replacing Ryūbi in history, his Hongō Faction serves as the equivalent of Shoku in the first VN. : In the first VN, Kan'u and Chōhi were told of a prophecy by Kanrō stating the arrival of the Heavenly Messenger that will bring peace to the country. They soon found Kazuto fending off some bandits, and they immediately help the boy fight them off. After introductions, and Kazuto's vehement denial of being the Heavenly Messenger, they arrived upon a ravaged town, who recently had the Yellow Turban Army attack them. Seeing the devastation, Kazuto agreed to at least pretend to be the Heavenly Messenger to inspire hope to the people. Rallying a small army of men, the young army managed to fend off another attack of the Yellow Turban Army. In gratefulness to their saviors and anger against the Kan administration for not dealing with the Yellow Turban Army, the city gave Kazuto the position of Chief Magistrate of the district of Yūshu, the same district that Ryūbi historically was born in. : Soon, a messenger from Kōsonsan arrives to ask for aid. The budding faction rallies together and aids the White Horse General, with Shokatsuryō Kōmei joining them on the way, as well as first meeting Chōun. : The Yellow Turban Army eventually fell, and peace soon came to the land. However, this didn't last and rumors of tyranny from the Prime Minister, Tōtaku Chūei, reached their ears, as well as a letter, inviting the faction to join an alliance of rulers to oppose the tyrannical rule of Tōtaku, dubbed the Anti-Tōtaku Alliance. : Looked down on for being the weakest force, the faction faced great troubles in all the battles, leading to the capital of the empire, Rakuyō. In the Battle at Shisui Gate, they were relegated to the rear guard. However, as it turned out, General Kayū had decided to leave the gate to set up an ambush against the Alliance, attacking the weak Hongō Army. They managed to fend the general off, but Kayū still managed to return to Shisui Gate's fortress. The battle continued to rage on, making the leader of the Alliance, Enshō became impatient and ordered the Hongō Army to charge into the melee at the vanguard. Following their orders, they were suddenly became the sole vanguard when both Gi and Go retreat. Kan'u manages to kill Kayū soon afterward, earning the Alliance their victory. : In the Battle at Korō Gate, they were forced to become the vanguard by Enshō, using Kan'u's victory in Shisui Gate as an excuse, and threatening the significantly weaker army into conceding to the inane plan. Go and Gi both placed their respective armies in the rearguard. Kazuto forcibly made negotiations to improve the odds of his army making it through the fight alive. First, he requested soldiers from each camp to supplement his own. Second, he requested to be simply used as bait to lure the enemy out, and have the other armies charge once Ryofu, the General of Korō Gate, leaves to attack. Enshō conceded to these agreements. Shokatsuryō quickly turned the plan so that they would retreat as soon as the ally armies have charged, taking revenge towards Gi and Go for what happened at Shisui Gate. Once Gi and Go were the vanguard, the Hongō Army quickly rejoined the fray, and were the first ones to break down the gate and charge into the fortress. There Kan'u and Chōhi fought Ryofu. Koumei quickly planned to use a net to catch Ryofu. With the capture of the General Ryofu, the battle of Korō Gate ended. Ryofu decides to join the Hongō Army, after the army agrees to pay her enough to feed her pets. : Although they were instrumental to the wins to both gates, they were weakened significantly, but were still sent as advance scouts to the capital. This is where they first encountered strange people dressed in white, revealing that the supposed Tōtaku Tyranny was just a way to lure Kazuto into the capital in order to kill him. At the end of it, Kazuto decides to shelter the former Prime Minister Tōtaku and her friend and strategist Kaku Bunwa. They, alongside Chōsen, became part of the budding Hongō Faction. : After the battle, Kazuto's territory was soon under attack by Enshō, after Kōsonsan's death. Before they started marching, Bachō arrived, asking to join the army, seeking revenge after Gi's invasion resulted in the death of her father Batō Jusei. The faction agrees to take her in, but tells her that they aren't strong enough to fight Gi yet, which Bachō acknowledged, and she joins the fight against Enshō. : After fending off a few attacks from Enshō, the Enshō's army soon retreated after news arrived that Gi made an attack on Kishū, Enshō's home territory. However, seeking to completely end the threat of Enshō returning, the Hongō Army pursued. Enshō decided to take Riri, the daughter of Kōchū, hostage to force the neutral veteran warlord to fight the Hongō Faction. Riri was soon rescued by the combined forces of Chōhi and a wandering Chōun. Both Chōun and Kōchū joins the Hongō Faction, in the aftermath. They continued in the pursuit of Enshō, and soon captured Enshō's main base at Nanpi, leaving Enshō and her two retainers wandering with no home. : With only three factions remaining, the Hongō Faction, Sōsō's Gi, and Sonken's Go, the three were almost set to clash. The Hongō Faction decided to take the first move by attacking Gi first. Although they planned to do this discreetly, Ukitsu leaked their plan to both Gi and Go camps. Despite this, the Hongō Faction managed to secure a victory and begin their march against Gi. : The battle against Gi was fierce. After their second victory against Gi, they soon retreated after Gi cut off their supply route, with Chouhi serving as an effective rearguard, allowing them to successfully make their retreat. : Go soon sends Daikyō and Shōkyō to form an alliance with Hongō, as well as political hostages in the case that Go turns on them. The two armies attacked Gi in parallel, aiming to split the army apart. With Go's help, Gi is forced into a corner. It came to a head when Gi's personnel, Kakōton, Kakōen, Jun'iku and Kyocho approached the army, begging for them to save Sōsō, who became enslaved by Ukitsu's Brainwashing. With the aid of the three Gi Generals and the Gi Strategist, they managed to defeat the enslaved Gi Army. With their help with Sōsō's rescue, Sōsō considers herself indebted to the Hongō Faction, and she surrenders her territories to them. With this, Gi became subordinate to the Hongō Faction. : It was set to be peaceful, with the two remaining armies of Hongō and Son Go being allies, but Ukitsu managed to convince Shūyu Kōkin, strategist of Go, to start conflict between the two armies. The two remaining factions broke off alliance and began warring with each other. But when Shūyu's treachery was revealed, Go's army quickly fell into two camps. Those who stayed with Shūyu and those who joined Sonken in surrender to the Hongō Faction. The Hongō Faction quickly began marching towards the capital of Go and defeats the army there, only to find Shūyu burning down the throne room. : With this, the entire country were ruled by the Hongō Faction. Peace finally came to the land, but a new faction soon emerged: the white clothed faction of Saji and Ukitsu. Hongō quickly came into conflict with them. However, due to the them seemingly having endless troops, his army found themselves in a tight spot, only for them to be saved by the Gi and Go forces. : At the aftermath of this battle, Kazuto returns to his homeworld, alongside one or more officers in the faction. It is unknown what happens to the country afterwards. Shin Koihime†Musō Shoku Route : Starting out as a small band of mercenaries, Ryūbi, Kan'u, and Chōhi soon heard a prophecy from Kanrō, and they head out to find the Heavenly Messenger who will bring peace to the land. They soon find Kazuto, and the four banded together to form a fighting force in order to help repel the Yellow Turban Army, serving under Kōsonsan, a former classmate of Ryūbi. It is here that they meet Chōun, Shokatsuryō and Hōtō. : After the war against the Yellow Turban Army settled, the group was given a small province to rule over, and they started increasing their forces. : The faction also participated in the Anti-Tōtaku Alliance, aiming to bring down the perceived tyrannical rule of Tōtaku. : Although initially viewed as weak, the faction eventually grew to become a rather formidable fighting force, and were given new lands to rule. Gi, however, soon invaded the budding faction, forcing the group to migrate southwest, forming the region that is referred to as Shoku. : Here, they began shoring up their resources for the inevitable fight against Gi, forming what is to be known as the Three Kingdoms Strategy. Colluding with Go, they brought down Gi's forces down to the same level as their own. With some negotiations between Ryūbi and Sōsō, as well as an interference in the form of an invasion by outsiders, the Goko, the three kingdoms of Shoku, Gi, and Go agrees on remaining separate kingdoms, allying together against the outside threat. Gi Route : During this route, the Shoku faction serves as the primary antagonist against Gi. : In this route, the faction that would eventually be known as Shoku is driven off from their original land by being in constant siege from Enshō and Enjutsu. They asked for Sōsō's permission to pass by her territory to get to the land that will eventually be nown as Shoku. Sōsō agrees on the condition that the faction hands over Kan'u to them, upon which Ryūbi refused. After the two's goals and dreams proved to clash with the other's, Sōsō angrily allows them to pass by with only the warning that her Gi will eventually come to crush them as well. : Shoku, from then on, openly plots against Gi, to try and destroy the threat of invasion from the superpower. It comes to a head when Gi decides to attack Go first. Shoku and Go tries to fool the Gi troops into chaining their boats together, but, due to Kazuto's foreknowledge, Gi managed to turn the plan into their favor, by making the chains easily detachable. This plan resulted in one of Go's Veteran Generals, Kōgai, dying, and the loss of Go, whose people and officers retreated to Shoku territory, where they were granted asylum. : Shoku became the last remaining barrier to Gi's conquest, and was soon overwhelmed by Gi's sheer might. Due to this, Gi became the ruling nation of the continent. However, the leaders of Shoku and Go retain their positions as rulers of their locations, only now having to recognize Sōsō as their superior. Go Route : In this route, Shoku itself was never formed, instead being a faction centering at Joshū, as Ryūbi was never forced to migrate to the land that would eventually be called Shoku. : The faction is first encountered during the Anti-Tōtaku Alliance. Upon Ryūbi meeting Sonsaku, the two's conversation lead to an agreement of an alliance between the two factions. But upon Sonsaku's death, Ryūbi's faction decided to cut ties with Go, under the reason that they do not know the nature of the new leader, Sonken Chūbō. : This broken alliance led to animosity when Ryūbi grants asylum to Ryofu, a wandering general who attacked Go's capital during Go's time of weakness. Embittered by this, Go and Joshū became enemies in war. But before they could decide a winner between both factions, Gi attacks, and Sonken asks for an alliance between the two factions in order to repel their hated enemy. Agreeing to this, Ryūbi's faction and Go worked together and successfully driven off Sōsō, who retreated to another land. : At the end of the route, the continent is ruled by the two factions of Go and Joshū. Moe Shōden : The continent is united under the rule of the Three Kingdoms of Shoku, Gi, and Go, each country respectively ruled by Ryūbi, Sōsō, and Sonken, with Kazuto as the lynchpin and symbol of peace, living in a central area, between the three kingdoms. The leaders and key personnel of the Three Kingdoms also live alongside him, only leaving their trusted seconds to do the management of the territories, in order to remain close to Kazuto. Shin Koihime † Eiyūtan Shin Koihime † Musou -Kakumei- Souten no Haou Son Go no Kechimyaku Ryū Hata no Taibō Anime Series Territory Koihime†Musō : In the first VN, Shoku's main territory is the northeast of the country, with their main base being in Yūshū. Shin Koihime†Musō and Shin Koihime†Musō - Kakumei : In the second VN, the territory is dependent on the route. In Shoku and Gi Route, they migrated and annexed the southwest of the country and Nanban, with their main territory being in Ekishū. In the Go Route, they remain the rulers of Joshū up until their conflict with Go. Afterwards, Ryūbi agreed to govern the western side of the country, while Sonken took the eastern side. Members Koihime†Musō - Hongō Faction Shin Koihime†Musō and Shin Koihime†Musō - Kakumei Gallery KM Hongou Faction Soldier.png|KM Hongō faction soldier Shoku Generic Soldier.png|SKM Shoku Soldier Armor Drunk party.png|Kan'u Unchō, Chōun Shiryū, Kōchū Kanshō, Shokatsuryō Kōmei, Bachō Mōki, Chōhi Yokutoku and Chōsen in Koihime†Musō Sisters oath.png|Kan'u Unchō, Ryūbi Gentoku, Chōhi Yokutoku and Hongō Kazuto take an oath to cover each other and bring peace to the Peach Gardens in Shin Koihime†Musō. An analogue of real events, where also three historical commanders gave the same oath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_the_Peach_Garden Peach Gardens Oath.jpg|Kan'u Unchō, Ryūbi Gentoku, Chōhi Yokutoku and Hongō Kazuto take an oath to cover each other and bring peace to the Peach Gardens in Kakumei. Rairai and Denden.jpg|Bijiku Shichū and Bihō Shihō Rinrin debut.jpg|Chōhi Yokutoku Sei debut.jpg|Chōun Shiryū SKM All Shoku Staff.png|SKM War Phase SKM Shoku selection system.jpg|SKM Base Phase SKM Shoku achievements.png|SKM Shoku Route Event Replay Kakumei Shoku Route selection.jpg Shin Koihime Eiyūtan Shoku Part.png Shoku Anime Pajamas.jpg|Anime Break, Pajamas Navigation Category:Factions Category:First Introduced in Koihime†Musō Category:Protagonist